Sheikah language

Sheikah
Pronunciation	/ˈʃi.kə, -ɑ/
Language family	Sheikan
Era	until 2023
Writing system	Sheikah alphabet
Official status
Spoken in	Early Marcyland
Speaker
Demonym	Sheikah
Endonym	Sheikah /ˈʃɘj.kax/
Technical information
Language code	SHK

Sheikah /ˈʃi.kə, -ɑ/ is the common ancestor of the Sheikan languages.

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial		Alveolar		Postalveolar		Palatal	Velar-Uvular		Glottal
		unv	v	unv	v	unv	v		unv	v
Plosive		/p/	/b/	/t/	/d/				/k/	/g/	/h/
	Gem.			/tː/					/kː/	/gː/
Nasal			/m/		/n/
	Gem.		/mː/		/nː/
Fricative		/ɸ/	/β/	/s/	/z/	/ʃ/	/ʒ/	/ɕ/	/x/
	Gem.				/zː/		/ʒː/
Affricate				/ts/		/tʃ/		/tɕ/
	Gem.			/tːs/		/tːʃ/
Liquid					/l/		/ɾ/	/ʝ/	/w/
	Gem.				/lː/		/rː/

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
	Short	Long		Short	Long
Close	/i/	/ɘi/	/ʉ/
Close-Mid	/e/	/eː/		/o/	/oː/
Open-Mid		/ɛː/			/ɔː/
Open	/a/	/aː/

Stress

Stress is on the first syllable, except if the word contains one of the long vowels <aa>, <ai>, <au>, <ee>, <ei> or <oo>, then the stress is on that because they have priority.

Orthography

Rom.	Pronunciation	Kyawcenni	Sheikah name	Kyawcenni evolution
a	/a/	/a/ [ə] (word-final)	Akh Va’quot	Ahko Bwaqyoc
aa	/aː/	/ɔː/ <au>	Kaam Ya’tak	Kaum Yaxtah
ae	/ae/	/aji/ <ayi>	Ta’loh Naeg	Taxlo Naying
ai	/ɛː/	/ɛː/ /aj/ (word-initial)	Ja Baij	Ja Baij
ao	/ao/	/awɔ/ <awo>	Hila Rao	Hila Rawo
au	/ɔː/	/ɔː/ /aw/ (word-initial)	Katosa Aug	Katosa Awng
b	/b/		Bosh Kala	Boš Kala
cc	/tːʃ/	/ʃtʃ(i)/ <šč(i)>	Rucco Maag	Ruščo Maung
ch	/tʃ/	/tʃ/ <č>	Chaas Qeta	Čaus Qeta
d	/d/		Dah Kaso	Dah Kaso
e	/e/	/ɛ/	Etsu Korima	Ecu Korima
ee	/eː/	/eː/ <ê>	Bareeda Naag	Barêda Naung
ei	/ɘi/	/ɪj/ <iy> in first syllable /eːj/ elsewhere	Sheikah	Šiykah
f	/ɸ/	/pw/ <pw>	Soh Kofi	Soh Kopwi
g	/g/	/g/ (onset) /ŋ/ (coda)	Kam Urog	Kam Wurong
gg	/gː/	/ŋg(ɔ)/ <ng(o)>	Mogg Latan	Mongo Latan
gh	/gː/	/ŋg(ɔ)/ <ng(o)>	Goma Asaagh	Goma Asaungo
h	/x/	/χ/ [ʁ] between voiced phonemes	Hawa Koth	Hawa Koc
i	/i/	/i/ <i> /ji/ <yi> (word-initial)	Ishto Soh	Išto Soh
j	/ʒ/	[dʒ] (onset) [ʒ] (coda)	Joloo Nah	Jolô Nah
jj	/ʒː/	/ʒdʒ(i)/ <jj(i)>	Kuhn Sidajj	Kuhna Sidajji
k	/k/	/k/ (onset) /χ/ (coda)	Kah Mael	Kah Mayiw
kh	/kː/	/χk(ɔ)/ <hk(o)>	Akh Va’quot	Ahko Bwaxqyoc
kk	/kː/	/χk(ɔ)/ <hk(o)>	Kuh Takkar	Kuh Tahkar
l	/l/	/l/ <l> (onset) /w/ <w> (coda)	Lakna Rokee	Lahna Rokê
ll	/lː/	/l/ <l> /w/ <w> (coda) /la/ <la> (word-final)	-	-
m	/m/		Myahm Agana	Myahma Agana
mm	/mː/	/m/ <m> /ma/ <ma> (word-final)	-	-
n	/n/		Ne’ez Yohma	Nexez Yohma
nn	/nː/	/n/ <n> /na/ <na> (word-final)	Lanno Kooh	Lano Kôh
o	/o/	/ɔ/	Oman Au	Oman Aw
oa	/oɐ/	/ɔwa/ <owa>	Tahno Oah	Tahno Owah
oo	/oː/	/oː/ <ô>	Rota Ooh	Rota Ôh
p	/p/		Pumaag Nitae	Pumaung Nitayi
q	/tɕ/	/cç/	Qaza Tokki	Qaza Tohki
qu	/tɕj/	/cçj/ <qy>	Qua Raym	Qya Raym
r	/ɾ/	/ɻ/	Rin Oyaa	Rin Oyau
rr	/rː/	/ɻ/ <r> /ɻa/ <ra> (word-final)	Gorae Torr	Gorayi Tora
s	/s/		Sasa Kai	Sasa Kai
sh	/ʃ/	/ʃ/ <š>	Shee Venath	Šê Bwenac
t	/t/	/t/ (onset) /ts/ (coda)	Toh Yahsa	Toh Yahsa
th	/ts/	/ts/ <c>	Tho Kayu	Co Kayu
ts	/tːs/	/sts/ <sc>	Tutsuwa Nima	Tuscuwa Nima
tt	/tː/	/sts(a)/ <sc(a)>	Wahgo Katta	Wahgo Kasca
u	/ʉ/	/y/ <u> /wy/ <wu> (word-initial)	Shai Utoh	Šai Wutoh
v	/β/	/bw/ <bw>	Voo Lota	Bwô Lota
w	/w~u/		Wahgo Katta	Wahgo Kasca
’	/h/	/ç/ <x>	Ta’loh Naeg	Taxloh Naying
y	/ʝ/	/j/	Yah Rin	Yah Rin
z	/z/	[dz] (onset) [z] (coda)	Zuna Kai	Zuna Kai
zz	/zː/	/zdz(a)/ <zz(a)>	Mezza Lo	Mezza Lo

Syntax

Sheikah is a head-first language. Its syntax follows a strict VSO word order if the sentence is transitve. If the sentence is intransitive, it uses SV word order.
Adjective and adposition appear after the noun they modify.
Adverbs appear before the verbs they modify.
In relative clauses, the word order SOV is used, with S being the relative pronoun.

For example:
The person who eats the television moves a boat.
Tsoyees nyor (pat yilani kyeeshidne lursem) tinni
move person (who sight.ACC device.GEN eat) boat.ACC

Morphology

Verbs

Verbs usually take a -s, -is or -se ending, which become -m, -am, or -se respectively if the verb entails one or more transitive objects. (-se doesn't change).

Roots are turned into verbs with the following suffixes:

Priority	Suffix	Conjugation	Verb type	Example
1	-se	stress is on the last syllable of the root	intransitive or transitive	gyatoo (purpose) > gyatoose (to function)
2	-m	root ends in a vowel, r, y or w	transitive
2	-s	root ends in a vowel, a long consonant, r, y or w	intransitive	chrew (cry) > chrews (cry)
3	-am		transitive
3	-is		intransitive

Adjectives, Adverbs and Determiners

Adjectives appear after the noun it is referring to. Determiners go before the noun.

Roots can be turned into adjectives with the suffix -il and by putting the stress on the penultimate syllable.

Adjectives can be turned into adverbs by replacing -il with or adding -lo.

The suffix -il disappears when the adjective is declined.

The comparative is formed by reduplicating the last syllable of the adjective. The superlative is formed by adding najne (of all) after the adjective.

Nouns

Compounds

Nouns can often be combined. Either by just combining the two words or by abbreviating the first word by only using its first syllable. In that case, the first consonant of the second syllable of the first word is also included if the first syllable ends in a long vowel. This consonant usually dominates over the first consonant of the second word. For example:

raiza + tin = raizin. The first syllable ends in the long vowel <ai>, so the first letter of the second syllable, <z>, is also included and overwrites the first consonant <t> of the second word.

There are some cases in Sheikah.

Accusative -ni suffix, except for nouns ending in -id, they don't get one.

Genitive

-ne suffix

Dative

-nayn suffix

Can be used to mean for or to as in kyeeshnayn nootelel (too dark for sight/too dark to see)

Locative

constructed by reduplicating the previous consonant if it follows a vowel and -a (gak > gakka), as long as the phonology allows it (Sheikah > Sheikaha). A -nn- is added if it ends in a vowel (yila > yilanna).

Pronouns

There are several pronouns in Sheikah whose use depends on case, formality, gender identity, plurality, species and tense.

First person personal pronouns

Pronoun Gen Dat Acc Loc	Plurality	Formality	Species	Notes
her herne hernei herni herna	singular	informal	human (masculine)
heraak heraakne heraknei heraakni heraakna	plural	informal	human (masculine)
i ine inei ini inna	singular plural	casual informal	cat human (feminine)
no none nonei noni nonna	singular plural	polite formal	any	Used to introduce the past tense only
og ogne ognei ogni ogna	singular plural	formal casual	human

Second person personal pronouns

Pronoun Gen Dat Acc Loc	Plurality	Formality	Species	Notes
oni one onei oni onnya	singular	casual	human (masculine)

Relative pronouns

Pronoun Gen Dat Acc Loc	Plurality	Formality	Species	Notes
pat	singular plural	any	inanimate
paten	singular	any	animate
patin	plural	any	animate

Evolution to Kyawcenni

Sometimes <a> is added at the end of a word to solve consonant clusters.

ɛɾ, ɛrː > ɚ
ɛ > i /_C in the last syllable ɡ > dʒ /_{e,i}

Sheikah vocabulary

For a list of Sheikah words, see Sheikah vocabulary

Numbers

Sheikah uses a base-8 system: 1. cher 2. kwa 3. zisten 4. espen 5. jas 6. yup 7. sex 8. qual 16. ches 32. zisqual 64. bonk 128. kwank

See also

• Kyawcenni language